African breed dog to track wildlife poachers in Uttarakhand

HALDWANI - The Conservator of Forests in Uttarakhand’s Haldwani division has ‘recruited’ an African Rhodesian Richback breed of dog to apprehend poachers.

Apart from routine patrolling in the possible areas, this trained dog has been taken around congested colonies and railway stations to catch hold the criminals from the gang of poachers.

The dog possesses extraordinary senses of vision and smell as compared to other canines used by the police and allied agencies in investigation.

“We are first observing the dog’s performance in Terai forest area. We are confident that the dog would be able to search out something. We have taken the dog around few areas and his smell and sight senses are very strong. So, it can catch the poachers with his powerful sight and olfactory senses,” said C L Arya, Range Officer, Haldwani Forest Division.

A local voluntary forum that has been extending support to the Forest Rangers in the preservation of forest and countering the network of poachers, has welcomed this move by the Conservator of Forests to use such a trained dog to catch the smugglers of forest wealth.

“We should promote this activity. It can be very helpful in curbing poaching activity in the forest area. If these kinds of dogs are brought in other departments we will be able to catch the poachers. That is why we are relying on this dog,” said Navin Joshi, a wildlife enthusiast and environmentalist.

The Haldwani Forest Range has become a fertile ground for poachers in killing various animals for their skin and other parts as well as trapping rare species birds.

The African dog is specially trained can easily smell parts of other animals and the forest officials now is preparing to supplement their dog squad with additional trained breeds of capable canines. By Vipul Goel(ANI)